Fighting Poverty In Times of Crisis

During a WSJ Big Interview, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim discusses the challenges of helping the poorest countries when the richest are struggling.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

the ... I ... for ... having actually had extensive ... experience working with Harper's populations in the developing world ... you have enthusiastically embrace the World Bank's mission the slogan our green is a world free of poverty the point we are ... no longer even though you are really green ties to the Dartmouth tied to World Bank I if you look ... very closely the fine print he said ... secondly it has since the entire hand stitched in ... that slogan or dream is a world free of property ... I wanna talk about then make sure we get plenty of time to talk about positions today ... but ... isn't sure you know ... I'm on for Chile poverty is not happen global economic agenda that these days on ... a tear to get attention let alone resources ... for the promise of the developing world at a time when ... the developed world ... is having seen incomes of its own so what's there they're network are wary that to some the other class of World Bank issues ... tell us how you view the global economy right now how bad is it what are the risks of another recession ... when you know we're ... all watching this very carefully in that we've been participating ... in a lot of your analysis and there's no question all the expectations of growth that can scale back ... and this is a huge concern and that the World Bank especially because we're ... watching especially how the impact of ... the slowdown in global growth the the recession and the events that ... date back to two thousandeight ... we're especially looking at how the impact on the pool ... now ... one of the one of the ... good news story says that over the last five to ten years ... a lot of the global growth has been happening in developing countries in Africa ... has enjoyed a five percent growth rate ... in America ... has high growth rates and they've also rebounded fairly quickly ... it's not even dream of recovery there there's some kind of countries and rebounded ... more quickly ... but the recovery after two thousand a crisis was was is very strong ... so ... our major concern is to ensure that all the gains that we've seen ... from the growth of the last five to ten years are not wiped out ... by the crisis ... were watching very carefully we're ... trying to make the point ... that I'm focusing on poverty in these times ... is not a question of smoke were busy why he wants to focus on charity ... we don't see this charity we received the ... investment ... in both the inputs things like health education social protection programs ... and also focusing specifically on how to make the private sector ... more of ... a ... more dynamic and more inviting of investment and even in developing countries we think of those two tasks ... are the same for everyone everyone's got to look at the public expenditures to say ... these are the things that are really helping people ... these are the things that are ... providing the foundation for growth especially the private sector ... and they've gotta look hard at the rules and regulations in the private sector we ... have done extensive work on how ... countries can make ... their private sectors more welcoming of investment ... that is a task for everyone can and investments ... in the developing country are really investments we think ... in future growth ... will take you to view it will will get back to that ... they begin focusing in Europe as you say that emerging economies have grown ... incredibly well is we seen in Asia ... and China which has been an engine of growth is now really slowing down soon if only because of Europe's problems so ... I'm you did FactSet at one point that is aam extreme east emergency European countries take ... all necessary measures to ensure stability ... you think they're doing their rate now is your opinion of what a lot of things are really encouraging ... I think the ... emergence of the Sam the the discussions that are happening I think they're a lot of encouraging signs ... I think we're on the right track it's slower than any of us would like but it strikes me that to ... that and they are there been actions taken recently and ... have improved the stability ... now the ... task of getting back on the onthe on the track of your growth ... he goes back to a nice and earlier every ... country to look into public expenditures and they look of the business environment ... and um ... if if ... if all the countries will ... focus on those two issues and instead focus on this two issues in a way ... that will bring about change ... I think we can get back ... to grow ... when you get to appoint the you raised earlier ... um we choose you see that the dangers to progress ... in unity you trade if you became president uninstall the Brookings Institution and ... any number of interest income is one ... I think you you you made a point of ... noting in a quote that the last decade has been very good for many developing countries ... I went on to say that this ticket achievement definitely inspires optimism for the next phase of our development work ... a couple questions I wanted ask about their one is ... how can you really be optimistic for next days when ... he has some uncertainty about global growth and ... just to talk a little bit more about the shire's which is what are the dangers to not only losing the gains that you've seen in the developing world over the last five or ten years ... and possibly wiping off the map ... so on on the issue of optimism I would consume the most difficult setting to work in prisons in Siberia work and ... squatter settlements and crew ... have worked in rural Haiti ... and built one of the things you've learned ... to win your development worker ... is if you have access to resources ... if you're coming in from the situation of relative power in going into ... the settings like the ones that walk into ... if you walk into the settings with pessimism and cynicism ... fastest deadly for Port people ... these kinds of situations when you're in a position of how when you do have resources ... I really believe that optimism is a moral choice ... you've got to ... fundamentally believe that good things can happen I'm very fortunate because I've seen good things happen ... I've seen incredible things happen like ... the scaling up of HIV in Africa ... so many really smart people so that that was impossible ... I've seen as build a ... treatment for cancer drug resistant tuberculosis in prisons of Siberia ... again everyone so that was not possible ... and the stories of ... many of them ... are here today ... um you the stories that you hear ... just give you confidence in the other sound source of my optimism ... isthe was born in Korea indeed in Korea in a country ... that when I was born ... almost all development specialists agree that was corn put a basket case ... there's no way they said victory could develop ... development is related to how much of Western influence you have ... Korea is admired in Confucian ideology this is no way that it's can grow ... and then some twenty years later they turned around and see you know the secret to Korean's groups ... with Confucianism and ... so ... you have to be careful ... I think I think there is um ... I hope that the lesson ... is that we should never be so immodest ever again ... to to to to say the country's a basket case I think there's hope ... for every country ... I feel that that might drop when we're not can it be when I can be excited about the ... the global economy will you know we're very honest about our projections for growth ... but in my experience has taught me that optimism want it ... to perhaps a Confucian Greece would be the least ... well it was nice to know what what's the danger came in the index like that ... so ... I was just a cookie for ... him in court to block ... um they're just coming out of the war in immigrate prison prison Alaska was a former deputy managing director the IMF this is a man who understands the global economy ... but in call people out ... there the very specific example ... of that that I found extremely compelling ... was I went to job training program in one gentleman got up to the common and former Mexican ... and if so ... um no this is been great for me I'm learning to be an electrician ... of my brothers and sisters and my friends don't have access to not be ... the next ten years of conflict they can pick up the tent again ... so ... um if if we allow ... the overall backsliding this is can appeal instability into the world ... and fragile states conflict affected states these are not good for anyone ... and we have to commit ourselves ... not only to continuing had been helping codpiece to continue on the path to growth ... we gotta do something about the special court the defect in states ... that the ability to deal with those presumably as you say you know the you try to treat an August readout but ... does have to begin with is only restore global growth ... at some level of sustainability in order to be able to ... channel resources development Act prisoner is what what you wanted things that we've been very encouraged by his that down ... you know couple years ago were going through ... an assessment of our capital needs and ... going through a replenished and a bar ... of IDR loan on its concessional a wonderful of course countries ... even in the midst of ... the great economic ... crisis ... um you don't countries are very generous and even today you see countries like United Kingdom ... um Mr Cameron's party has made a firm commitment to increasing ... their ... official development assistance that South Koreans ... are increasing the official development assistance ... and in my own view is that this is based on an understanding ... that despite the difficult times ... investing in the growth of developing countries is a critical